Porous boron nitride-coupled gold nanorods enable highly sensitive SERS detection of tetracycline hydrochloride.

Abstract

Antibiotics are the primary drugs utilized to combat bacterial infections; however, their overuse and misuse have caused significant harm to human health. Rapid and efficient detection of antibiotics is crucial for food safety and environmental monitoring. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology offers ultra-high sensitivity for molecular detection. In this study, we introduce a SERS substrate AuNRs-SH-BN (ASBN), which integrates semiconductor boron nitride with noble metal gold nanorods (AuNRs) for the trace detection of antibiotics. The prepared porous boron nitride features a large specific surface area with numerous pores and adsorption sites, facilitating the adsorption of antibiotic molecules. Coupling porous boron nitride with AuNRs generates numerous "hot spots," thereby enhancing the Raman signal. The SERS activity of the ASBN substrate was evaluated using signaling molecules, demonstrating a high enhancement factor (7.13 × 10⁶), excellent uniformity (RSD = 4.45%), and good stability (retaining 87.22% of the initial intensity after 28 days). The linear detection range for tetracycline hydrochloride is in the range 10^-11-10^-4 M. Additionally, significant recoveries of 82.11%‒97.10% were achieved for tetracycline hydrochloride in real samples.